1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical connectors for IC cards.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Japanese UM Patent Application Kokai No. 4-133369 discloses an electrical connector of this type. As shown in FIG. 9, the connector includes a housing having a cavity 53 into which an IC card 82 is inserted at a position shown by a phantom line. A movable plate 54 is provided in the cavity 53 for receiving a front portion of the IC card 52 and movable along sides of the housing. A front edge of the movable plate 54 is bent to form an abutment section 55 for abutment with the front end of the IC card 52. A slot 56 is provided on the movable plate 54 for receiving a stud 57 of the housing, to which an eject lever 58 is pivoted for rotation about the stud 57. The eject lever 58 has a slot 59 with which a projection 60 of the movable plate 54 engages. The other end of the eject lever 58 projects into a side wall of the cavity 53, where it engages with a groove 61A of an eject bar 61. The eject bar 61 is connected to a push button 62 adjacent to a mouth of the cavity 53. The push button 62 is positioned adjacent to the rear end of the IC card 52 inserted in the cavity 53.
The ejector button 62 is at a forward position shown by a solid line when the IC card is used. To remove the IC card, the ejector button 62 is depressed by a distance shown by an arrow A to a rearward position shown by a phantom line to thereby move the movable plate 54 forwardly through the eject lever 58 so that the IC card 52 is pushed forwardly by the abutment section 55 of the movable plate 54 for removal.
When the IC card 52 is stored in the cavity the ejector button 62 is substantially flush with the rear end of the IC card 52. Thus, it is very difficult to depress the ejector button 62 to remove the IC card 52. It is frequent to accidentally depress both the ejector button 62 and the IC card.
If the ejector button 62 is made to project forwardly to avoid such a problem, it can be depressed unintentionally during the use of the IC card, thereby causing the IC card to spring out of the cavity.